Highlights

High dietary salt intake is linked to hypertension, stroke, heart failure, kidney disease, kidney stones, stomach and colon cancer. Population-wide salt reduction is therefore a critical component of public health efforts to address these major threats.

The European Chronic Diseases Alliance (ECDA) has just published a position paper calling on EU action to protect European citizens' health and reduce excessive salt intake.

While the ECDA supports the EU’s efforts to reduce Europeans’ salt consumption, it insists on the need for a more rigorous and concerted action plan which engages stakeholders and the public in salt reduction initiatives, and is bolstered by regulatory measures to stimulate the reformulation of food, provide clear and meaningful information to consumers and is followed up by an adequate monitoring system of salt intake.